I couldn’t have asked for a nicer Mother’s Day this year. Yesterday Alan and Lex cleaned the cars, which is awesome! This morning Eve made me a “surprise” breakfast. I say “surprise” because last night she asked me what I like for breakfast, how to make it, how to make tea, etc. so I had a bit of a hint. :) I read the paper and drank my tea. The kids played nicely. Then we went outside to work in the garden. Alan mowed the lawn while Eve and I prepped the small garden in the backyard for its third incarnation. It started as a veggie garden, spent a few years as a dirt patch/truck work site, and is now being reborn as Eve’s flower garden. She’s pretty excited and that makes me happy.

Eve’s Mother’s Day note from school

After lunch we went on a Valley Quest hike along a flowing brook. The weather was perfect, the walk was beautiful and just challenging enough, and we found the Valley Quest box! Those hikes are always better when we’re able to find the box at the end. :)

We saw ducks swimming in the brook, then two started fighting a bit further down. Lex whipped out his binoculars and I whipped out the camera. :)

There’s always time to pose for momma!

The spring water was chilly!

Eve, off to catch a butterfly.

We came across a pretty cool bridge.

Is the Valley Quest box in there? I’ll have you know Lex is using a flashlight he built with his SnapCircuit set and Alan is using his phone’s flashlight. Geeks through and through.

Ahh… that’s the rock the clue was talking about.

Someone built a lean-to against one side of the giant rock. The Valley Quest box, however, was not there.

Found it! Lex wrote a nice note and we all signed our names.

Then we went wading in the cold spring water.

Happy family on Mother’s Day.

Dad and daughter.

We kept hiking for awhile further up the river and came across some beautiful sights, like this waterfall.

This is that cool bridge on the way back.

After the hike we stopped in town for gelato. I’m not sure I’ve ever had gelato before. It reminded me of eating cool frosting. I had coconut and dark chocolate. Yum! Then we came home to relax for the rest of the day. I’m still preparing for my interview tomorrow so I got more of that work done. Lex is working on science project. Everyone is happy. Alan is heading out momentarily to pick up some dinner for us. The kids are almost in bed and I’m looking forward to kicking back with some wine, tofu teriyaki and sushi, and Anchorman 2 on the big screen!

Happy Mother’s Day!